Question One Two Study Guide The public knows very little about sanctioning practices because there isn t worth it to research Most people think courts and judges are too lenient Abstract questions make people more punitive more information makes them less Most of the public supports the death penalty Peak year 1994 at 80 Lowest 1996 at 42 People support the death penalty over life in prison for certain crimes murder and sex crimes Support eye for an eye saves tax money deters crime Oppose wrong to kill innocent people are killed 59 of people think an innocent person has been executed in the last 5 years 11 think now Only 1 3 of people think the death penalty actually deters crime Overwhelming support for imprisonment for most crimes National Punishment Survey found 71 gave prison as the sentence for most crimes Federal Crimes Survey found 6 70 crimes got a medium sentence of less than a year Most people think prison is a school for crime it doesn t necessarily reduce it Most think white collar crime should be treated just as serious as street crimes Most think community penalties are not severe enough They support ones that require payment of compensation and community service Dislike probation Support for community penalties declines as the severity of the crime increases Although people still support rehabilitation it has declines because now many people believe other things are more important Still support for non violent offenders and juveniles The public is very punitive but this is a mushy punitiveness There is a large range of what they are willing to accept for punishment Violent offenders are the great divide for leniency if it was violent people are less lenient False dichotomy punitiveness and support for rehab should be opposites but this is not the case because most of the public supports both Question Three Question Four Attribution theory belief of what causes crime Dispositional attributes internalized reasons Those who believe this see crime as a rational choice Situational attributes environmental reasons for crime More supportive of social problems Strong support for this theory Escalating crime distrust model two beliefs concern for crime rates and loss of trust in the CJS Victims are the concern and anyone can be the next victim To test look at the correlation between punitiveness and fear of crime fear of victimization and trust in the courts Fear of victimization is either not related or negatively related Fear of crime shows mixed results Trust in courts also shows mixed evidence Mixed support for this model Moral decline model we need crime because it shows us the moral bounds of society Durkheim s thesis and when people see morality as declining they will be more punitive To study ask opinions on the state of society Most people think morals are declining Empathetic identification model differences in punitiveness stem from differences in empathy towards offenders empathy reduces punitiveness influenced by mental image of offender victim To study get the mental image of offender victim and the stereotypes of that person Stereotypes affect punitiveness Racial animus and threat model people know blacks are overrepresented in the CJS and depending on how they attempt to explain this will predict punitiveness expressive v instrumental Expressive you think blacks are overrepresented because they are black you will have less empathy for them and thus be more punitive Instrumental you recognize that it s disproportionate because it s a way to control blacks To test this indirect racial resentment test and direct racial typification Indirect racial resentment people with more racial resentment are more punitive Direct racial typification mixed evidence Question Five Rational choice theory criminals are rational decision makers that weigh the costs and benefits before committing a crime You can deter criminals through punishment The utility of not committing crime is greater than that of committing it Deterrence theory there is a utilitarian rationale behind committing crimes Deterrence general public specific offender Perceived risk of punishment is key must be swift certain and severe The key policy question is if we get tough on crime will it help to deter it Only evidence can show Question Six Kleck 2005 Measures Certainty of punishment arrest per 100 crimes severity convictions per 100 arrests and swiftness of sentenced out of 100 convictions average sentences served Perceived punishment swiftness certainty and severity Control variables crime rates prior arrests demographics and media consumption Findings Perceived v actual certainty no relation Perceived v actual severity no relation Perceived v actual swiftness no relation This study shows that Get Tough policies don t actually affect deterrence Kleck Barnes in press Hypothesis more police will deter crime Methods Dependent variable perceived certainty of arrests Independent variables police strength jail ratio arrest ratio Findings no relationship between police strength and perceived certainty Increasing number of police will not reduce crime through deterrence Register and notify laws require sex offenders to register with local police so they can notify residents of their community that there is a sex offender living there States will lose funding if they don t follow these laws Residence restriction laws limit the places sex offenders can live Cannot live within a certain distance of areas where children congregate Child pornography is illegal to make distribute or possess Doesn t need to be saved just opened Question Seven Question Eight Mears 2008 wanted to see how punitive people were against sex crimes 90 thought sex crimes should be a top priority of the CJS The majority of people supported registration notification laws residence restriction and there should be incarceration for sexual assault and rape Most thought indecent exposure shouldn t get prison The majority supported incarceration for sex crimes against children also indecent exposure A little over half of people said they would pay more Gallup data showed that 94 agreed that child molesters should have to submit their information to notification and registration laws Very little concern for the harassment of these sex offenders Mancini 2008 even though sex offending rates are going down policies are becoming more and more punitive Are residence restriction laws effective No these laws actually increased recidivism by 40 They have a
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